Impurities, for example, sand, dust, volcanic ash, sea or fertilizer salt, chemicals, oil, lubricants and the like are deposited on the blades of the individual compressor and turbine stages of airplane engine gas turbines, and adhere there, becoming encrusted in particular, so that the airplane engine is negatively affected. This is also referred to as “fouling.”
From the category-defining WO 2005/120953 A1, it is known to spray a liquid cleaning agent, particularly water with or without additives, into the engine from the front, in order to remove these foreign materials mechanically and chemically.
The disadvantage here is, on one hand, that the soiled cleaning agent has to be discarded after use by means of a separate collection device, and, on the other hand, the engine stages, particularly turbine stages, located further downstream cannot be acted on optimally.
The present invention is based on the problem of improving the cleaning of a turbo-machine stage and reducing at least one of the above-mentioned disadvantages. The term turbo-machine stage denotes both a compressor stage and also a turbine stage.